Ice flake making machine



June 20, 1967 A. FIEDLER 3,326,014

ICE FLAKE MAKING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1966 l i i NVENTOR ARMIN FIEDLER BY @adwgMm ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,326,014 ICE FLARE MAKING MACHINE Armin Fiedler, Chicago, 111., assignor to Tastee Freez Industries, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 3, 1966, Ser. No. 591,874 1 Claim. (Ci. 62-320) This application relates generally to ice making and more particularly to improvements in machines for maksmall pieces of ice suitable for use in drinks or the It is commercially known in the art to make ice by freezing water on the inside wall of a vertical cylinder and continuously scraping the ice from the inside vertical wall by means of a rotating screw conveyor or auger that has an outside diameter almost equal to the diameter of the cylinder. The rotating screw or auger raises the ice in the shape of a hollow cylindrical column that has a helical cut or slot therethrough where the thread of the helix extends. This thread or cut in the vertically moving column of ice facilitates breaking of the column of ice into small pieces. One such ice making machine is illustrated and described in Patent No. 3,183,682 granted May 18, 1965 to A. F. Conto. The present invention is an improvement over the ice making machine disclosed therein.

Heretofore, some difiiculty has been experienced in breaking up the ice formed in the cylinder. Prior commercial practice has frequently required compressing of the ice against the end wall of the vertical cylinder to facilitate breaking up of the ice column. However, such compressing of the ice against the end wall may be undesirable in certain instances.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement for facilitating the breaking up of the upward moving column of ice at the top of the vertical cylinder.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved ice flake making machine.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In accordange with these and other objects, there is provided means for discharging ice particles from the upper end of a vertical ice flake making cylinder, the cylinder being formed with a recessed area or cutaway section to which is connected a discharge chute. A breaker pin is mounted on the upper end of the auger and rotates in a single plane as the auger is rotated. Thus, the pin is driven through the helix of upwardly moving ice which is advanced rectilinearly by the rotation of the auger so that the pin breaks the helix of ice into particles. These particles are then discharged through the chute.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of an ice making machine constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View of the ice making machine of FIG. 1, taken along line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating in detail the breaker pin arrangement on the upper end of the auger, and taken along line 33 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, there is fragmentarily illustrated an ice flake making machine 10 and comprising a vertical cylinder or tube 11 forming the side wall ice of a vertically extending cylindrical freezing chamber 12. Surrounding the central portion of the tube 11 are evaporator coils 13 which extend over a substantial portion of the length of the tube 11 and terminate at inlet and outlet lines that are connected to a conventional refrigeration compressor and condensor (not shown).

The upper end of the tube 11 has a shoulder 17 for receiving a flanged tube-mounting ring 1 8. The mounting ring 18 is secured to a rigid plate 20- of plastic or other suitable material forming a part of the ice making machine.

Rotatably mounted within the tube 11 and coaxial therewith is an auger or screw conveyor assembly 22 which includes a sleeve 23, FIG. 2, having on its lower outer periphery a multiple thread helical screw 24 below a smooth cylindrical portion 25. One thread 26 of the helical screw 24 is of a major diameter and the remaining threads 27, three in number, are of a smaller diameter. The helical thread 26 extends above the top of the evaporator coils 13 and below the bottom thereof and is in close proximity to the interior surface of the tube 11. The helical threads 27 are of the Same pitch as the thread 26. The sleeve 23 has a longitudinal bore 28 for receiving a coaxial drive shaft 29 which extends axially therethrough. The drive shaft 29 is coupled to the driver of a power driven conventional speed reducer 30. The drive shaft 29 and speed reducer 30 may be considered as one unit so that the drive shaft 29 constitutes the output shaft of the speed reducer 30. The speed reducer 30 may be drivingly connected to an electric motor (not shown) either directly or through a belt and pulleys. The drive shaft 29 may be coupled to the sleeve 23 in any suitable manner as by means of a drive pin (not shown) more fully described in the above mentioned Conto patent.

Soldered or otherwise rigidly secured to the lower end of the cylinder 11 is a fitting 31 adapted to be connected to a water inlet line. Water from the inlet line passes through the filling 31 into the freezing chamber 12. A constant water level is maintained in the freezing chamber 12, in a conventional manner, as by a float control valve, so that the level is maintained slightly below the top of the coils 13.

Adjacent to its upper end the cylinder 11 is cut away to form an ice discharge opening 33 that opens into a discharge chute 34. A U-shaped sheet metal clamp 35, best illustrated in FIG. 2, surrounds a portion of the cylinder 11 behind the discharge opening 33 and has flanges 36, 37 secured to companion flanges 38, 39 formed on the inner end of the discharge chute 34. The upper end of the helical screw 24 terminates substantially at the lower edge of the discharge opening 33 so that the smooth cylindrical portion of the sleeve 23 is within a discharge chamber 32 defined in the upper end of the freezing chamber 12.

For breaking up the ice, there is provided an upwardly and outwardly extending breaker pin 40 press fit into a bore 41 in the upper end of the helical screw 24, FIG. 3. Preferably, the bore 41 is directed downwardly and inwardly through a downwardly and outwardly sloping surface 26a of the large thread 26 at an angle 7 to the vertical. The upper end of the pin 40 is formed to provide sharp edges and extended slightly above the upper end of the helical screw 24 and terminates slightly inwardly of the major diameter of the thread 26 to rotate in a single plane as the conveyor 22 is rotated. Thus, the breaker pin 40 is driven through the helix of ice which is advanced rectilinearly upwardly by the rotation of the conveyor 22 so that the pin breaks the helix of ice into particles. The angle '7 may be in the range of 30 to 60; in a particular embodiment it was found that a slope angle 7 of 50 satisfactorily broke up the ice. The particles are then discharged through the ice discharge opening 33 into the discharge chute 34.

From the above detailed description, the operation of the improved ice flaking machine is believed clear. However, briefly, it will be understood that in use water is maintained at a desirable level just below the top of the evaporator coils 13. The water freezes against the inside surface of the cylinder 11. The drive shaft 29 rotates the conveyor 22 so that the large helical thread 26 scrapes the ice from the tube wall and conveys it as a column of ice upwardly toward the opening 33. The smaller helical threads 27 assist in raising the ice. The ice formed in the freezing chamber 12 is broken up by the breaker pin 40 and flows outwardly through the ice discharge opening 33 into the chute 34 as it is broken up. It will be understood that the chute 34 conveys the ice to a suitable ice storage bin.

Although the present invention has been described by reference to only a single embodiment thereof, it will be apparent that numerous other modifications and embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art and it is intended by the appended claim to cover all modifications and embodiments which will fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

In an ice making machine, means forming a vertical cylindrical chamber having an unrestricted discharge area at its upper end and including a chamber side wall having a discharge opening adjacent said end thereof, means forming a water supply inlet to the chamber adjacent the lower end thereof, refrigeration means for freezing the water on the inside surface of said wall, a screw conveyor rotatably mounted within the chamber including an upper smooth cylindrical portion within said discharge area and a helical threadin sufficiently close proximity to said inside surface of said chamber to scrape off ice therefrom as the conveyor rotates and delivers a column of ice toward said opening, said helical thread terminating adjacent said discharge opening, and a breaker pin mounted adjacent the discharge end of said conveyor and extending outwardly toward the discharge end'thereof at an angle of about from the vertical, the upper end of the pin having sharp edges and extending slightly above the upper end of said helical thread and terminating slightly inwardly of the major diameter thereof so that said pin is driven into the path of ice delivered rectilinearly by said conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,126,719 3/1964 Swatrick 62P354 X 3,183,682 5/1965 Conto 62354 X 3,245,225 4/1966 Wallace 62-354 X 3,256,710 6/1966 Dedriicks et a1. 6 2320 3,290,896 12/1966 Stiller 6 2-320 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner. 

